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DELAND, Fla. (AP) — The Florida Highway Patrol says lightning struck a motorcyclist on the helmet as he drove on an interstate in Florida, causing a crash and his death.
The agency said in a news release that 45-year-old Benjamin Austin Lee of Charlotte, North Carolina, died Sunday afternoon on Interstate 95 near Daytona Beach. Lightning burned his helmet.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Florida troopers say an off-duty Virginia state trooper witnessed the lightning strike and its aftermath.
This is what’s left of a 45 year old man’s helmet after he was struck by lightning, while riding his motorcycle southbound, on I-95 in Volusia County this afternoon. Unfortunately he did not survive the crash. pic.twitter.com/uFklUPY8r1
— FHP Orlando (@FHPOrlando) June 9, 2019
An investigation continues.
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